Restaurant Review: Hello Kitty Kitchen and Dining, Taipei

If you think the Hello Kitty fandom has yet to reach outside the walls of a Sanrio store, the owners of Hello Kitty Kitchen and Dining are out to prove you wrong with their restaurant tribute to the popular Japanese character.

Formerly known as Hello Kitty Sweets before it was renovated in 2013, the wildly pink exterior is matched by Sanrio’s “kawaii” cat printed on every imaginable surface: floors, walls, ceilings, napkins, mugs, dishes and even the staff uniforms.

It’s a Hello Kitty fan’s dream come true, and is unsurprisingly patronized by mostly women and their devoted husbands or boyfriends. Even I was charmed by the sheer adorableness of the Hello Kitty décor.

Set salad. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

Afternoon tea dominates the menu, with a wide selection of cakes and drinks all marked with Hello Kitty’s signature face.

Set soup in a Hello Kitty bowl. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

The appeal of these desserts admittedly lies much more in themed presentation than taste.

Hello Kitty rolls. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

Heartier fare includes spaghetti, burgers with buns shaped like Hello Kitty’s head and pizza in dinner sets ranging from NT400 to NT450 (roughly $12 to $15).

The interior of Hello Kitty Kitchen and Dining. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

For their noodles, the pesto shrimp noodles had large juicy shrimp in an overly creamy sauce.

Pesto shrimp noodles. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

Salmon noodles were also drowned in the cream sauce.

Salmon cream noodles. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

The most enjoyable entrée was the spicy chicken cream noodles, which packed more kick and flavor.